HANOI: Automation will soon make millions of low-skilled jobs—from cashiers and machine operators to waiters and drivers—redundant across Southeast Asia, experts said on Wednesday, warning the region to upskill fast or face huge employment problems.

The topic was center stage at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Hanoi, where warnings abounded that countries including Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand where manufacturing has driven GDP and employed millions would be among the worst affected.